A Rising Tide Lifts All Boats

Sunday August 25, 2013
Sunset Point RV Park
Lubec Maine

 

We are much more aware of the tide times here than anywhere else we have traveled.

 

 

I’ve talked in previous posts about the extreme tides in this area.  When it is low tide here the mud flats stretch a LONG way out from the “shore”.  At high tide they and all the rocks along the shore line are under water.

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when we decide we want to take the kayaks and launch them from the shore here, we have to pay close attention to the tides lest we go out too early and have to wade through the mud to get to the water or come back to late and get beached a long way from the rocky shoreline.

We want to go out about an hour before high tide and come back a couple hours after.   Today high tide is at 3:19 AM and 3:39 PM.  You can easily guess which one we are aiming for.

 

 

This gives us lots of time in the morning to get some chores done.

 

 

 

No pictures of my chore, the laundry.  Not much to say about it either.  It’s lovely to have reasonably priced machines within a minute walk and to be able to do four loads at once.  $1.25 to wash $1.00 to dry.

I put the clothes in the washer, come back to the house and do some future route and campground planning.  Walk back 30 minutes later and put them in the dryer.  Come back to the rig and do the dishes.  Go back 45 minutes later and fold them and bring them back.

No pictures of the laundry but pictures of the beautiful pond and wildflower field I could see on my trips back and forth.  You can see Winnona on the right of the pond.  If we had a back window we’d be looking out our front window on the little bay and have the pond out our back window.

 

Baby gulls on the pond.  Not sure I’ve ever seen them before.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

MEANWHILE, David gives Ruby a well deserved wash.  He was told he could do that if he was “discreet”.  Then he gets really ambitious and washes Winnona’s front end and windshield.  Couldn’t get the OK to wash all of poor Winnona who hasn’t been washed since….well  I don’t know when.

 

 

 

 

 

Notice our wonderful Virginia License plates in the front of Winnona’s window.   We lost those plates when Winnona moved to Florida but we’d deactivated them and put them on the front of both Ruby and Winnona since Florida only has a rear plate.  We’ve had them that way for most of this year and through every state on the east coast.   Had that is until we and Ruby got ICED (Immigration Customs Enforcement - Detained) at the border coming back from Campobello yesterday.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ok enough chores, it’s lunch time.  And then it is kayak time.

 

 

We put all the gear in the cockpits and pull them through the grass and down the wide path to the shore.   I put mine in nose first, push it out a bit, step in and I’m off.   David always puts his in parallel to the shore so he doesn’t have to step in the water. But then he has to use his arms to push himself away from the shore.  The tide here comes in so fast that he decides to wait and see how long it will take to lift him up and he can just paddle off.   It takes 3 minutes for the rising tide to lift his boat and he’s off.  Pretty slick!   Now all we have to do is get back in time so he can sit there and get pushed in.  LOL

 

 

 

 

 

He’s checking his watch and waiting.   I’m getting pulled away from the shore by the current of the incoming tide.  No paddling required.

 

 

 

We set out around the bend to the right here to get a picture of Winnona from the water.

 

 

 

 

 

And there’s Winnona watching us go by.

 

 

 

The water was as smooth as glass this morning. 

 

Not a ripple, not a breeze, perfectly still.  But it was low tide so there was no kayaking which is why we did our chores.

Things picked up in the afternoon and by the time we go out although weather.com says the current wind is 3mph they are definitely wrong.  We paddle around the edge which keeps us out of the wind for the most part.  The sights are good around the edges too.

 

 

In another cove is this gorgeous meadow of wildflowers.

 

This sight brings back memories for both David and me of our hay being cut, raked and baled by a vintage tractor just like this and an old square baler.  Then trying to get it into the truck before it rains, we go out in the field with our truck and stack those bales up five high, take them to the barn, unload them and go back for more.  Over and over until the field is empty and green.

 

 

 

 

I’m not really expecting anything, but you never can tell.

 

From the cove, we turn up the other side and I scan the water with my binoculars looking for interesting things in the middle or on the other bank.

 

Here’s what I see. 
Despite the wind I paddle out to the middle and enjoy the seals.  There are two or three and it’s quite a bit of work trying to get a decent photograph.   The wind and waves are making it impossible to hold the camera steady so this is really my only decent gray seal picture but I like it.  He looks like he’s getting a big sniff of air doesn’t he?

 

 

The seals move off further down the waterway than I want to go so I return to the shore.

 

 

The rocks lining the shore line are quite varied and very beautiful. 

You really can see them and appreciate them so much better up close and from the water.

 

 

 

 

   

 

 

There are other folks enjoying the rocks too.

 

 

 

In certain sections of the water, usually fairly close to the shore but not always,  there are mats of this seaweed.  It’s very coarse.  I wonder if I should bring some home, rinse it off, dry it a bit and see what it tastes like.   But I don’t.

 

 

 

 

Another binocular find to check out.

 

We’ve come up the other side of this finger of Johnson Bay and past where our park is.  I’m looking in my binoculars again just to see what’s out there and I see something I can’t figure out.  So we head out across the water to the other side toward Lubec to check it out and then paddle home.  The wind is rough and so are the seas.

 

 

Lubec comes in to view.  It looks so cute.  Many of the houses up here are painted much brighter and cheerier colors than anywhere in the East other than Florida that I have seen.  Can you see the bright pink and bright yellow?  I’ve seen all shades of green and turquoise and blue.
They are cheery looking.  Fun places to look at.

 

 

I’m fighting the current and waves to get over to this place.
David is already over there.  He’s ahead of me; I was again looking for seals.

 

 

At first I think it must be the underneath side of something huge that has fallen over on its side.

 

 

 

As I get closer I see David has gotten in so close that he is stuck right by the shore and trying to pole his way out.   Behind him appears to be a building which has collapsed.  Two stories are left.  We have no idea what it was or how many stories there were at one time. 

The folks at the campground are work campers so they don’t know the sorts of information that a local would know.  Like where can you buy a bottle of Bailey’s Irish Cream in town for instance.  So I doubt they would know this.  We’re going to have to find someone local to ask.

Sure hope nobody was in there when it started collapsing.

 

 

 

Time to head for home.

And then it’s on around this point and the final pull against the tide to the boat launch site.

 

 

I’m in the home stretch and paddling.   When I make it I’m tired and don’t think to take a picture of David coming in behind me or of our putting the kayaks up on shore and locking them up for another day.

I’d like to go out early in the morning at least once while we are here.  It isn’t often that we can put in so close to our site and not have to drive at all.   Hope I can make that happen.

 

 

 

We only paddled 5 miles today but we are plenty tired.
Tonight’s evening sky is lovely though nothing dramatic. 
A nice gentle relaxing close to another wonderful day.